It is still blowing; the weather is really not May-like. From time to
time the wind is really stepping up, it is howling through the rigs, then it is pouring down for a while, after a quarter of an hour the sun is getting through and then the whole thing starts all
over again. That’s the program for today. We are absolutely not in the mood for trying out our boat in this weather, better to do some stuff inside. Doris is fighting the dirt in our cockpit to
get the nice white color. I’m fiddling again with some electronic nasties but do not get a real success so far. To celebrate our last day at Arzal we have an omelet with salad ad frites at the
l’Inflexible. Then the is some time to work again on our blog, unfortunately the capitainerie is closed in the afternoon, so we have to wait for uploading the pictures. During the night we have a
constant intermezzo of waves dangling on the hull and wind howling above and some showers beating on deck very entertaining.

Tuesday 2.5.2017

Weenjoy a last warm shower in the capitainerie Arzal, then off we go for some last shopping at Herbignac, that followed by paying
our berth. Finally saying good bye to the team of Arzal Nautique. A big thank you to Dominique for managing and organizing. Many thanks to Gilda, who helped us a lot with his expert knowledge and
fort he really nice board in our storage compartment and all the other jobs! Many thanks to Annie for her readiness to help us with whatever we came to her!Thanks to Dominique for his advice and answer all my questions regarding paint jobs on the
boat. And last but not least many thanks also to Loic for his jobs on the windpilot, accu replacement etc.

At 12 o’clock we are ready to leave the berth, engine on, but it doesn’t
really want and needs a bit of special treatment. Obviously, the heating over the past few days has sucked back fuel and I need to pump fuel to the engine by hand. But after a few trials the
engine is firing up and we are chugging in direction La Roche Bernard. WE take the chance to play a bit with the boat to learn it’s behavior. Two miles above La Roche Bernard we drop anchor and
relax surrounded by pure nature. We deeply enjoy this moment of the break after this three-month working towards our goal. It was sometimes a bit strenuous, many things were new to us and needed
to be learned, sometimes the hardway. On the other hand, it was very interesting and satisfactory to carry bit by bit and to progress on the whole project.

After a good hour of enjoying a greek salad and the nice surrounding, we
drive back to Arzal to get the 6 o’clock lock. First, we circle around in front of the lock awaiting the signal and seeing the bridge rising upwards. Then we enter the lock chamber just on our
own. Fortunately, we already watched a few times how the boats are passing the lock. With this knowledge, we pass the lock without major incidents and make fast at the locks waiting pontoon for
the night.
The wind slackened more and more and it is getting silent around us. After two years of planning and three month of work towards this goal we eventually slipped through this barrier into the
saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean, wow, what a feeling. Three month ago we arrived here in Brittany,without knowing this part of France at all. We felt in love with this landscape with its coast, river valleys,
nature parks, castles and old towns as well as the people living here.
Not to forget the French kitchen with oysters and fish menus.

Wednesday, 3.5.2017

After a quiet night at the waiting pontoon of lock Arzal, we take a very
last warm shower at Arzal. Returning with some fresh Baguettes from l’épicerie du port to Santjana,we get some inspecting visit from the capitainerie Arzal, just to make sure we do not stay longer than the allowed 12 hours…well, we might have stretched our stay a bit….
desolée!We sail along the Vilaine to its
estuary,passing an atractive landscape with some smal
ports and villages, like a picture book. Then the route leads us along the coast passing Penestin with la Mine d’or, Piria sur mer, La Turballe to the entry towards Le Croisic. The entrance is
quite small and difficult at low water but well-marked with three leading lights, finding the first one I had problems to find since the yellow boards are not easy to be seen with the
background.We take a free buoy in the Pool.Impressing to see all the sandbanks and rocks and some oyster banks not far from us, emerging with
the falling tide. At the moment, the tide is about three meters. Sadly, the sun is hiding behind a big black cloud and it is getting chilly over here, time to step down into the
cabin.

Thursday, 4.5.2017

Mainly the night was quiet, once or twice we got shaken by wind and waves
as well as some knocking on the hull by the mooring buoy. The morning looks really promising with some nice off-land breeze. The harbormaster is passing by having a chat while getting some 21 EUs
for the night. The long moleleads us out to sea, then
along the coast passing La Baule and Pornic and finally crossing the shipping channel to St. Nazaire. We see some big ships lying in the roads waiting for entering the port. The wind is piping up
and since we do not want to water our guardrail we put in a first reef.
After a nice sail of about 6 hours we finally reach the port at l’Herbaudière where we first make fast at the visitors quai. After checking in at the harbormasters office, we are just putting the
powerline out when we got a visit from the French customs. Two officers step onboard Santjana, checking papers and stowage and friendly asking questions. After everything is cleared on our boat
we deserved a nice glass of cidre at a harbors bistro overlooking the port of l’Herbaudière. After a two years break from sailing we are quite happy with the todays achievement. We are looking
forwards to the next today in port since there is some strong wind forcasted for the next todays. Also, we will find time for things like washing and cleaning the boat,mounting brackets for the lines and hopefully to see a bit more of
Noirmoutier.

Friday, 5.5.2017

The wind is whistling through the rigs, outside the harbor we see white foam on the
waves.Even in the harbor it is not that quiet as we were well shaken at our place. We use the day in the port for various jobs as installing some holding points for the lines in the cockpit to
end the line muddle in the cockpit. Unfortunately, one of the packages is not complete and missing the important piece, therefore always have a close look at the package before
buying!

While doing some washing, enjoy a hot shower in the capitainerie of l’Herbaudière. The
evening brings some rain, while the wind is turning down. The fish with salad tastes great in the cozy cabin while the rain is knocking on deck.

Saturday, 6.5.2017

The weather has improved since yesterday and the sun is shining through the bull eye on
our breakfast table. After breakfast, we had to do some shopping to get some fresh fruits and vegetables and the second coffee we would like to get in the bistro opposite the harbor. Obviously,
the coffee price is going through the roof, as we had to pay twice as much as yesterday. At my question, why we wouldhave to pay the double amount for the same coffee as yesterday I was answered by the girl that she had to use two
tablets for each cup of coffee thus adding up to the double amount…. After some forth and back the coffee price suddenly drops back to normal level….

Back on our boat I install some fittings we roved for our paint jobs. A big motor yacht
arrives at the berth next to us, the lady at the bow is dropping some rope at me, while the guys on the upper deck obviously are not too keen for such activities. In return, soon the corks are
popping on the yacht, it’s being cheered, sung and music played while we on the other side of thefootbridge play with the water jet trying not too plash around too much.Well …..

While putting together the water jet the cable reel is sliding out of my hand and
sinking with a loud splash in the harbor …. Uuuuuppppssssss Fishing for the reel was not successful,
The todays achievements so far: a clean side of the hull, mounted fittings and a sunken cable reel.

Tuesday, 9.5.2017

After the morning promenade to the Boulangerieto get a»Baguette» and a «Tradi» and the breakfast afterwards, we set out for the bus station.On
bus line no 1 it goes higgledy-piggledy across the islandOnly too well that the bus is rather small as it could not be any larger on
these roads here. After an varied twenty- minutes bus ride we arrive at the other side of the island at the old castle “Vieux Chateau” built somewhere in the 16thcentury. The old castle is directly situated at the cliff of
the coast and it is a great view. From there we walk about two hours on a winding path along the cliffs and the coast line towards Port de la Meule. In the meantime, the temperature has risen
even to allow shorts, a nice touch of summer at least. Since we were followed by a crowd of hikers armed with walking sticks we pull out for a break and having our sandwiches, giving them a
chance to pass by.

Back on the path and around the next corner we already arrive at
Port de la Meule. The terrace of the Bar de la Meule is very attracting and the menues hanged out there are even more promising, that we have to try
hard to withstand the temptation. Instead we enjoy our Bolée of Cidre and the great view of the small fisher port. Getting back on bus line Bleu, we take a stop near the citadelle. Built as
fortress to defend the island and protect its inhabitants, then used as prison after the second world war and now being used by some local clubs and institutions. From the citadelle we step down
through narrow alley passing white painted house, with light-blue shutters down to the harbor. After the todays hike we enjoy the shower at the capitainerie and the nightcap.

Wednesday, 10.5.2017

Actually, we wanted already to sail on to La Rochelle, but since we would have the wind
on our nose for the next 60 miles or so, we push off the plan for next day.A walk to the not so close super market for some shopping.
Here we eventually find a new cable reel, after I had sunken the old one some days ago….. Since we do not want to schlepp the mineral water from the super market to our boat, we decided to buy
some water at closer shop, but, …. Woooops, …. at which price ….. The shorterthe distance the higherthe Price!

Thursday, 11.5.2017

Waking up by some knocking on deck, it is raining again. We are not in the mood to
leave today as the weather forecast is not that good either.The two English men on their Oyster 46 next to us are obviously used to
rainy weather as they leave in sailing dress and life west. Obviously, they had a better nose or a better forecast, as the rain stops after a few hours and the sun is getting through in the
afternoon. We use the few sunny moments for a last walk along the sandy beaches of Ile de l’Yeu.

Friday, 12.5.2017

The alarm clock sounds at 05.30, highwater is on 06.00.A good time to cast off, but also still much to dark outside. Therefore a few moments left to remain under the warm blanket. But half an hour later it is
already brighter so we can start our preparations. Wind up the cable reel, get the ropes ready for cast off, get the charts ready, prepare the log, lower the fin, switch on position lights, and
last but not least put on the sail gear and life wests. Start engine to warm-up and finally cast off. WE leave the nice port on this lovely island. Out of the port it is blowing quiet nice and we
were glad to eat our Müelis out of some deep bowls. We are getting a fair amount of splash and some of the splashes are even ending in our cockpit. The sky remains covered by dark clouds and the
bright spells are still missing. Abeam of Les Sables d’Olonne we get a first rain front. We get a fair shower and the wind is pipping up as well, time to put in a second reef. The first front
hardöy passed as we already can see a second one not too far from us. We fed up with this weather more and more, luckily some first blue patches on the horizon promise an improvement.Actually, we sail under the bridge connecting the main land with Ile de Ré in pure sunshine! Ahead of us lies the bay of La Rochelle, we sail
along the commercial port, the wind is dying and need our diesel wind for the last two miles. Close the light house Richelieu we ask the capitainerie for a suitable place for Santjana. We get the
response to take any free place on pontoon number three. Fine, thanks but where the heck is pontoon three. Gladly we retrieve the information in the Bloc Marine 201. We check in at the
capitainerie, asking for the packet from Arzal- Nautique and of course nobody here knows anything about it. Then we take a shower without knowing that we have to pay for hot water. Well, thanks
boys for the info, the shower was really refreshing…. Back on Santjana we enjoy Raviolis and soon dive in our beds quit a bit tired.

Saturday, 13.5.2017

A grey sky is greeting above, after breakfast we first visit the various ship chandlers
to get our board clock. Then we have to get an overview of what’s around. Where can we get fresh food, where is the next boulangerie, where the laverie to wash some of our clothes? In contrast to
our first visit at La Rochelle it is very lively over here as there is a marathon going on. We back out away from the quai and find a nice and sunny table in a crèperie. Unfortunately, we are not
very welcome there, thus getting us to another bistro where the view to the port and the service is much better.
In the bay of La Rochelle many sail boats, kayaks, hobbycats and tourist boat are competing with each other, creating a nice and colorful picture.We enjoy the evening sitting in our cockpit watching what’s being around. There is always something to
see like the English gentleman visavis. He is stoically trying to adjust his satellite dish to get BBC on TV. Then he calls his wife for assistance to adjust for that he can see….
““Darling, would you mind turning the dish, … putting it a bit more to right, no….,
too far, …. a bit higher, ….Well ….As said, very entertaining, pure live harbour cinema.As it gets chilly we step down to the cabin, to continue with
this blog for example.

Sunday, 15.5.2017

After breakfast, we have some todo’s on our list for today, among them are: Washing,
Hair cut for Doris, small things like blocking points for our folding table, hang- up our clock, top-up water tanks, without overfilling the tanks. The new lids for our tanks can be picked-up
tomorrow chez la post. Then we take a nice shower, this time including hot water for one Euro (…)
We take a walk to the not so close town to celebrate our todays weddingday.We have an apéro at …. And dinner a few steps further
in the Bistro du Port.During the nice meal, we try to remember how it was on
this special day many, many years ago….
The first time since we slept on Santjana we didn’t have to crawl into our sleeping bags during night, as it was quite warm.

Monday 15.5.2017

We are up and away very early this morning on our way to the post office to get our
package from Arzal- Nautique with the spare parts.But the lady at the counter shakes her head anddirects us to another post office in La Rochelle. Ok, à la gare, but à la gare we can not find any post office. According to Google Maps there is another
post office a bit further away -let’s hike there. Storing the package there would make sense, as it is only a few minutes walk from our berth. But even here head shake, no, the package is near
the railway station. So I I walk back to the station and some what to the other side than we went before and how wonder I get our long expected package. Feeling a bit whacked and nerved I return
to our berth. Actually I wanted to use the time during morning for other things then scooting through La Rochelle on the search for this package, well… Anyway, I succeed in de-install the old
antenna tuner and install and connect the new one. But even now the transceiver remains as quiet as a mouse. Tomorrow I’ll have to dismantle it and to check the fuses inside. But now we will
enjoy the La Rochelle beach live a bit o get some tanning eventually. Since the last few month were rather under cooled and not so sunny.

Tuesday, 16.5.2017

Doris is taking a stroll through the «shopping mile» of La Rochelle and returns a few
hours later exhausted but not with too many bags from her walk. My search for the problem of the transceiver was not very positive either. Anyway, I know that the fuses are ok. To check this I
only needed to unscrew about forty (!) screw to but the box in half… On the other side our plotter is displaying the electronic map which is quit a helpful tool for our navigation.During the afternoon we search the shade of our bimini as it is 26 degrees today and too hot for the beach as the water is only 16 degrees and
not too tempting for bathing that close to the Harbor.

Wednesday 17.5.2017

What a difference compared to yesterday, since the weather today is no longer inviting
to spend time at the beach. The sky is cloudy and a cold wind is blowing quite strong. The weather forecast for tomorrow is even worse. I’m still fiddling round with the shortwave transceiver, in
the meantime I have support from ICOM France. Also I have some administrative demands to fullfil. All this is eating time. The WLAN access is also not that good to allow uploading photos into our
blog. In the evening we take a long walk along the coast line with its parks.

Thursday, 18.5.2017

It is heavily raining and blowing, and just unfriendly weather.
Quite the right weather to visit the local seawater aquarium of La Rochelle. Obviously, others had the same idea, especially all teachers of elementary school of La Rochelle, since the aquarium
windows are crowded by schoolgroups from playschool up to the 4th. class. In the evening the sky is clearing up a bit allowing for a dry walkt o the pizzeria nearby to get two fresh
pizzas.

Friday, 19.5.2017

We are called up by the sound of a heavy shower on deck, it is pouring down again.
Today the weather is very varying as sun and rain showers follow each other during the whole day. We have “petit déjeuner” in the “boulangerie” nearby and then tasks on Santjana are waiting for
us. Doris is clearing up the aft cabin to avoid things get stirred up when at sea. I finally succeed to bring the SW transceiver to operation, a poor contact was the reason for it’s service
refusal. Also the radar is conected to the plotter and operating which is a very helpful tool. In return the tank of our outboarder is starting to leak by losing a few drops of gaz-oil mix into
the water.I was already irritated who is losing oil into the sea. Embarrassing, we were the originator!

We temporarily sealing the leak with silicon but to avoid more
problems with the out boarder we visit the local Yamaha representative to ask for a service and the price of a new out boarder. The lady is too busy in the branch office to give us just a few
moments of her valuable time and leaves us dealing ourselves with the brochures booth. Compris, il y a des autres…. The work-intensive day we conclude with a visit at the Sushi restaurant after
having some oysters for apéro.

Saturday, 20.5.2017

Another stroll through the old part of La Rochelle as contrast to yesterday’s work
loaded day. Still it is chilly and on the rainy side. The day is passing very quick just with a bit of shopping for the next few days including some bottles of mineral water. Only too good we can
use our small trolley for the heavier stuff, otherwise we would get crooked backs.

Sunday, 21.5.2017

We prepare for the next few days of Biskaya crossing towards Spain. Clearing up the
boat, study charts and weather forecasts, get info about the active firing areas on our course. Today there is no firing activity but from beginning of next week three areas are closed for any
navigation. Our course is far away from the closed zones. Topping up our water tanks and a last coffee at the coffee bar and then we are ready to leave La Rochelle since the berth is also already
payed.

Shortly after high water after 13.30 we throw loose our lines in
direction towards Spain. The weather is looking fine, it is warm, blue sky, pure summer. We hat between Ile d’Oléron and Ile de passing the lighthouse of Pte de Chassiron. In the dawn we can see a bank of clouds coming in towards while the baro keeps remaining on high of about 1023 mbar. We take terms of three hours each,
three ours on duty, three hours off.

Monday, 22.5.2017

The next morning is a clear contrast to yesterday, as it is grey and cold. We get
visits of several dolphin schools, playing around our bow. In the afternoon, we get visit of a small bird which selects Santjana as its temporarily home. We give it the name of Tweetee as it is
specially curious inspecting the boat from bow to stern on the search for some insects we got blown to from the headland. In the evening, it is disappearing again, hopefully it found its way to
the headland?! During the day only two small freighters crossing our course, otherwise we do not see any other ships during the whole day. We get a bad surprise when we wanted to lit on our
position lights after dawn as the starboard bowlight is not lighting anymore, as well as the three-colour toplight as well as the machine light. As I did not want to crawl over deck in the dark
we continued one-eyed.

Tuesday, 23.5.2017

Still a very grey day during the morning we shall see a few blue spots eventually later
on. The baro still in high, the wind steps up a bit. When closing in to Cabo Ortegal on the spanish main land the meter shows already 30 knots of wind speed. We already have put in the third reef
to handle this course more or less even Santjana is throwing of course by some big waves and stiff gusts. Waves are rolling from starboard aft underneath Santjana, an impressive demonstration of
nature’s forces. From time to time the waves and wind are sending spray across the deck, a cold greeting from Biskaya. The wind is piping up more up to 40 knots with gusts above 44 knots, the
steering is hard work whil the auto pilot quits its service by just showing “overload” on the display. More over the cutter sail turn loose and protests with loud rattling on the foredeck. My
trials to crawl over deck to tame the slapping the sail have only moderate success. After three hours of hard work on the wheel the wind is going back to about 30 knots and we are out of the
worst.La Coruna is still about four hours away, it will be dark when arriving the.Arriving at night in a unknown harbour is a fascinating experience. But with the right charts and descriptions, supported by tools like plotter and radar we are able to find our way
without mayor problems. We made fast on an outer berth. When I jump on to the landing plank I land in some sort of spider’s web. Obviously put there to keep the seagulls off. After stumbling
through these traps I get my balance back and can support Doris to make fast Santjana.

Wednesday, 24.5.2017

Checking in at the marinas office for three days we are taking up our jobs which needs
to be done.First, we top up some Gazole with the support of the friendly marinero of Corunas Marina and finding a better place for
Santjana. After that, I remove the salt crust from bow to stern of Santjana by the help of our water jet. Doris is busy with keeping the washing machine busy at the marinasa office. The evening
stroll through La Corunas old town leads us to the Plaza de la Constitution and a glas of Esterella Galicia beer.It is here where it comes to our minds that we arrived in Spain after spending four month in Brittany. It looks
different, it smells different, the people around talk in a different language and temperament and last but not least the warmth of the evening. Warmth, that we so badly missed before. The four
month in Brittany were really great but also a very intensive time for us.
At Plaza del Maria Pita we were tempted by some Tapas and concluding the day by some moments of football derby Manchester United against Ayax Amsterdam.

Thursday, 25.5.2017

Continuing the task on board Santjana, since the problem with the rudder needs to be
solved as well as the lighting issue.Still there is some washing waiting for Doris and trying to get everything dry the same day.The rudder blade cannot be lowered anymore by the hydraulic pump, thus making the steering an extremely strenuous job. After studying the French description
for some time I check the hydraulic overload fuse – Bingo. Obviously, the rudder blade hit a concrete piece of something in the last days and was put in the upright position. After replacing the
hydraulic fuse the blade can be moved up and down without problems.

Positions light on starboard has a bad electrical contact, after some fiddling and
cleaning, it works again.

The machine light is somewhat different, as one has to climb the mast to check the
reason of malfunction. Secured by Doris at the halyard and in climbing harness I’m trying to work with one hand while trying to hold myself with the second hand. As I wanted to remove the cover
of the lamp, the cover got loose and “klonk” drops onto the deck and “splash into the water and disappears in the harbors water.
Now, everything is completed including washing and drying our clothes and sheets since the sky is covering with clouds bringing some rain soon.

Talks on the pier:

Where do you come from? «Germany»Ok, we can clearly see his national on the
stern black-red-gold,….And where do you go from here? “Back to Germany»
Where have you been? «Well, we come back from the Caribbean, we sailed there last August from Germany»Aha, cool, and how did you experience the Caribbean?Well, nothing special, high poverty, no
piracy and at clearing in or out you need lots of time and nerves.

«Oh yes and New York have we visited as well with our sailboat.”
“Wow, great, … «well, only another big city….»

Finally, at last: «And what about you? We are on the way from Brittany to the Mediterranean sea, to continue to the Canaries by begin of November to get ready for the Atlantic Rally for
Cruisers. Our counterpart just brings up some kind of scoffing snort: “I would never do that, much better alone…» Well, Mediterranean sea we wanted to visit as well, but there are better places…. Then he turns to his
company: “Do you remember that port at gale force and huge waves…?” She returns: “Of course, and this nice harbor bar with that lovely music,…”

This is going back and forth between them several times, bringing
us to leave them back with their memories.

Friday, 26.5.2107

Rain is knocking, no, hammering on deck. Actually, the plan was to get up early in
order to see something from the town, but with this weather we rather turn again once or twice in our bunk. It is already nine, when we are ready for a walk through Coruna.The breakfast in the
Cafe Veracruz with the same name which consists of fresh orange jus, coffee, danish plunder and tortilla.Today, it rains obviously only
once, once more, once less…. With the helpof two more coffees we manage to get back to Santjana more or less dry. In a small “Supermercado” we are able to get the most needed articles for the next few days.

Saturday, 27.5.2017

We leave La Coruna around eleven in the direction for Vigo. The search for a local bakery
which is already open at that time of the day, was not really successful and needed more time than expected. There will be another night cruise, which we time to arrive at Vigo at daybreak.
Passing the oldest lighthouse in Europe, Torre del Hercules, which should have shown the direction already to the romans. This day again is grey and hazy, only from time to time we see a small
spot of blue sky. Cap after cap is passing by until we reach Cabo Finisterre, the most westerly point of Europe. Taking our three hour’s terms, checking for any traffic around us but the sea is
calm and no other ships are crossing our course. Interesting to see all those lighthouses on the way down to Vigo.

Sunday, 28.5.2017

The entrance at night into the Ria de Vigo is really special with the lights directing
our course. Since it is Doris night watch while entering the Ria de Vigo, she has to master this job on her own. Which she does by the way with flying colors. At half past six we are both awake
and preparing Santjana for berthing at the Marina Punta Lagoa Deportivo.
At the first attempt to jump onto the pier my lifewest gets tangled up at the reling and I got hanged outside unable to help. Only with great struggle I manage to untangle myself. What a …. Only
to glad nobody was around at that time in the marina.After
berthing is completed we catch up some sleep only until we were waken up by some knocking on deck. The local mariner wants to check whether we would stay here and asks us to check in at his
office asap.
In the afternoon we go for a walk into town as our marina is quite far away from the center and any shops. Vigo makes an industrial, rather dull impression to us. We just shut the porthole back
on our boat as it began pouring down. Only too god we still have some spaghettis on board…..

Monday 29.5.2017 Vigo – Povoa de Varzim (Portugal)
After yesterday’s permanent shower a damp and cloudy morning is waiting for us but already showing some blue spots. We leave the marina around ten then passing the harbor front of Vigo. Then
continuing along Islas Cies in direction of Portugal. The wind has increased a bit and it looks good for a promising day of sailing. Unfortunately, it dies away again once we arrive at Bajona and
we need the propulsion of our diesel again. Along the west coast of Spain to the mouth of Rio de Minho which marks the border between Spain and Portugal. The landscape is getting less mountainous
and the sun wins against the clouds. According to our chart there is a windpark ahead of Povoa de Varzim. In reality there is nothing left of it but a lonely yellow buoy. We give a wide berth tot
he wavebreaker in front of our marina. The wind has increased again, of course exactly then, when it is of least use when berthing in an unknown place.The guard on duty is showing us a free berth and supports us
while berthing. The day finds its end with a nightcap in our cockpit reviewing the past days.

Tuesday, 30.5.2017 Povoa de Varzim

Getting up, checking in at the capitania and looking for a place to get a nice
breakfast. The latter is rather difficult as neither of us speaks any word of Portuguese. My efforts with mobile and LEO app to order a breakfast leave a puzzled waiter and us with two cups of
very black coffee. Only after trying the same in English we get some croissants, butter and jam. Obrigado!
The search for a supermarket turns out to be much easier than the search for the breakfast. In the meantime, we did our washing, washed the salt off our boat from yesterday’s trip and enjoyed a
hot shower. At Vigo we only saw a sign pointing in the direction of a shower, but this one has to be built sometime in future!
The WLAN at the marina here in Povoa de Varzim is nothing but great! A perfect opportunity to update our blog again!

Wednesday, 31.5.2017 Povoa de Varzim

Contrary to yesterday weg et or in english ordered omlettes for breakfast.During the day ,we go over our shopping list of food and mainly drink water and some sparkling water for the next few days.
In the evening we are looking around for a niche Portuguese restaurant. It is not that easy as we thought, since we are not in the mood for Mac D or Pizzeria and the Portuguese restaurant
recommended by the Capitania is closed unfortunately.
We going over the city map checking one restaurant after the other and finally find one which suites us most – the Recife. We select from the menu:

- Mexilhoes com molo verde and Tostada de Sardegna
- Salada de Tomate
- Aroz Marisco
served with a nice Rose from Portugal
A really delicious and nice closure of our visit to Povoa de Varzim.